Bridge of Sighs

About this place

The Bridge of Sighs is a bridge in Venice, Italy. It connects the Doge's Palace with the New Prison across Rio di Palazzo. After the gaols in the Doge's Palace itself became too small, architect Gianantonio Rusconi was commissioned in 1580 to design a prison building to be erected northeast of the Doge's Palace across Rio di Palazzo. An extension was already decided in 1567 and completed in 1574. Rusconi died in the late 1580s, and Antonio da Ponte took over for the final south wing, designing the south façade to Riva degli Schiavoni and the lagoon, the only elaborate wall of a building otherwise completely bare of decoration. View the structure from the side as well as along its length. This makes its engineering easier to understand and helps connect the monument with the practical movement of water, people or goods that shaped the surrounding settlement.